Iridescent
by Mlle Karo
Summary: The Boy Wonder had forgotten that he already had someone who could understand his problems. And as he watched Bette Kane wrap her arms around her and shoot Dick a glare from her table, he realized that he had lost her. Now a two-shot.
1. Chapter 1

**A.N/ You know, when people asked for more Dick/Babs, you should have precised that you didn't want angst... xP I didn't even re-read this before posting, so tell me what you think of it. Is angst my thing, or should I stick to fluff?**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

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Barbara Gordon sighed and slammed her textbook shut. She was angry, and wanted to vent, but gym wasn't until Thursday and she couldn't talk about it to Dick. Yeah, that would go over great. "Hey, Dick, I'm a bit upset." "Why so, Babs?" "Oh, you've been ignoring me since July and are suddenly hanging out with this new chick; who you still haven't explained to me who she is, by the way."

And the worst was that it made her feel so damn _petty_, and jealous, like a little girl being forced to share her toys. But, to be fair, she hadn't seen the prodigy outside of school in, like, two months. Whenever they had projects together, they would make plans, which would then be cancelled, and either Dick or Barbara – more often than not, it was Barbara – would do it alone, and write the other's name on it.

The bell rang, and the commissioner's daughter rose to her feet, collecting her bag, and wandered out to her locker to put things away before lunch. As she shut the door – once again, perhaps a little harder than necessary – she spotted a familiar gelled-back head of hair, and despite herself, a smile found it's way to her face. Dick turned around and waved, grinning. The redhead waved back at him, his name on her lips, but the call was cut short when that huge blond ponytail practically swamped her vision, and Artemis Crock walked up to her best friend and high-fived him.

Barbara bit back a growl and walked over to him, her smile a bit forced. Okay, very forced. She probably looked like the Joker.

"And then Roy was like –"

"Hey, you guys!" Barbara smiled at them innocently, glaring at Artemis. "So Artemis, you know Roy? Small world, huh? Did you two meet through Dick?" Roy Harper was a common guest at Bruce Wayne's charity dinners, and Dick and Barbara would often flock to him, the teenagers using themselves as an excuse not to be coddled.

Dick grinned, greeting her with a 'Hey, Babs!' but Artemis looked like a kid caught with her hand in the metaphorical cookie jar. "Um, no, actually, we're… uh… cousins," she said. "Ollie is my uncle."

"So how come we never see you at any charity balls? It would be fun to have someone from school there. Especially since Dick keeps on weaseling out of them." Another truth – as of the last few months, Barbara had been forced to hang out with Bette Kane and the likes. Actually, the girl was really nice, and had invited Barbara to her lunch table. Up until now, the redhead had refused, forcing herself to stay, invisibly, at their normal table while Grayson and Crock chattered on.

"Not my kind of party," Artemis shrugged, bringing Babs back to reality. She turned back to Dick. "So… are we still doing that _thing_ this afternoon?"

"Totally! I'm definitely whelmed about it." Damn Richard Grayson and that smile. Damn Artemis Crock, for making Barbara become a whiny jealous schoolgirl. Damn them all.

"Oh, what kind of thing? Something I can tag along to?" she asked casually, already knowing what the answer would be. "My dad's going to be at work until tonight, and an empty house gets old after a few days."

While Dick looked at her sympathetically, Artemis looked at her again with that same deer-in-the-headlights look.

"Sorry, Babs," the boy apologized. "We're doing a joint-interview thing, about Queen Industries and Wayne Industries joining up – or something like that."

"Oh. Well then, I'll look forward to reading it then." Barbara smiled at them, that fake smile one last time, before turning away and walking towards the cafeteria.

"Save us a spot?" Dick yelled at her retreating back. His old friend let out a small laugh, and turned around to face him, eyes sparkling. Was it the bad lighting, that made them look wet, or…?

"Sorry, Dick," she echoed his earlier claim, "I promised Bette I would sit with her from now on. I mean, we are friends now, and all!" She winked at him, and started walking again, not fast enough to be a run, but enough to make the boy's heart sink.

Robin glanced at Artemis, who was watching with a confused expression. Having his teammate at school, and knowing his identity, had made him so excited and happy to have someone who could understand _all_ of his problems. The Boy Wonder had forgotten that he already had someone who could do that.

And as he watched Bette Kane wrap her arms around her, and shoot Dick a glare from her table, he realized that he had lost her.

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	2. Chapter 2

**A.N/ GODDAMN PEER PRESSURE. I got a bunch of private messages from people like GIVE US SEQUEL. So here is your goddamn sequel. xD I don't know, I don't like it! It's too... fairytale happy ending. Oh well. I expect reviews though! :P**

**Disclaimer: You know the drill.  
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Richard sighed for the fourth time in sixteen minutes, staring at the counter, the cookies Alfred had left for him untouched.

It had been three days since Babs had seemingly cut off from him, leaving him alone with Artemis, who was feeling guilty, as if _she_ were the one who made Barbara leave. Girls were so complicated!

And now he was friendless. Well, not really, but at the same time, yeah. Whenever the Team was too much for him, or he wanted to take time off from the hero business, he would call Barbara, and the two would chat for a bit, but now that was gone. And now that he thought about it, he hadn't done that in a while. When was the last time they had met up…?

The boy wonder groaned and let his head drop against the table. Everything was wrong.

Bruce watched his ward silently from the doorway, brow creased. Was Dick having trouble with the Team? No, this wasn't Robin who was upset, it was Richard. So something at school, then. He knew for a fact that his son wasn't being bullied, so what else? Something with his friends? Who did he hang out with again? Artemis… Barbara Gordon…

_Oh_.

The business man went to sit down across from the teenager and ruffled the boy's hair a few times. Dick lifted his head dully.

"Hey, Bruce."

"Having girl trouble?"

Richard nodded bleakly, staring at the table.

"Do you..." Bruce wasn't really comfortable, having these kinds of talks with his little bird. "Want to, you know, talk about it?"

"Not really." Dick sighed – that makes five – and started talking anyways, not able to hold it in. "So lately I've been hanging out a lot with Arty, because she knows me on the team and off so we can talk about that kind of stuff, and I haven't really talked or seen Babs at all since the Team formed, and now she won't talk to me, and three days ago she was crying." He took a deep breath, replenishing that he spent to say the previous sentence. "And I think she hates me now," he finished lamely.

Bruce digested this. "And have you tried apologizing?"

Dick gave him a dry look and left the room.

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Babs groaned and buried her head in her pillow. Lying on her bed wasn't the most productive thing she could be doing, but the girl had no patience for homework, and nobody to talk to.

Her cell phone buzzed across the room, where it was charging, but Barbara couldn't drag herself up to answer it, opting instead to wait for it to stop. After about a minute, it died down, and she basked in the silence. Thirty seconds later, it rang again. The cycle repeated itself at least three times before she crawled across the bed and pulled the cable towards her, squinting at the screen.

_Five missed calls, Dick Grayson_.

She stared blankly at her phone, as if it were about to start doing somersaults in her hand. The redhead sighed and was about to switch it off when it started ringing.

And she really hadn't meant to. It was a reflex. When a phone is ringing in your hand, you answer it, right? In any case, for whatever reason, Barbara had answered the phone and was now in contact with Dick.

"Hello?"

"Babs? It's me." He sounded kind of desperate, behind his usual voice. Good.

"How was the interview with Artemis?" she asked waspishly.

"Huh? What – oh, right, um, cool. Uh, listen, I just wanted to talk to you-"

"Well, I guess you got what you wanted then. No need to press on now." Ignoring the frantic calls of 'Babs, no, hang on-!' the girl hung up. For a few seconds, she merely looked at the phone serenely.

Then she chucked it across the room and buried her face in her pillow.

The romantic version of things is that the boy appears outside of the girl's window, or underneath her balcony, and reveals his undying love to her.

The realistic version of things is that the boy shows up in her apartment, because fourteen stories is just a tad high for voices to carry, wet with the rain, and admits that he's a vigilante and on a team with a bunch of super powered sidekicks.

"And that's why I've been busy all the time, and we don't see each other in the afternoons – and Artemis is on the Team, too, which is why she hangs out with me, and I swear that I didn't mean to ignore you, or anything – and I'm just really sorry I didn't tell you, Babs." He flopped back onto her bed, exhaling slowly.

Babs watched him, frowning slightly. "Why didn't you tell me? We've been best friends since… forever."

"I wasn't allowed to." Even to Dick, it sounded weak. "I'm still not allowed to. Batman doesn't know I told you."

"Is Batman Bruce?" When Dick didn't answer, that was reply enough.

"Do you forgive me?" the boy wonder pleaded.

Barbara sighed and watched him. He looked miserable. _She_ looked miserable.

"You're doing the face," she whined. "I can't resist the face!" The commissioner's daughter buried her face in her hands, but Richard laughed, knowing that it was a joke.

He wasn't properly forgiven yet, he knew that, but the two were friends again. And things would be rocky for the first weeks, and it was strange having someone who wasn't on the Team know. The lack of secrets, however, helped smooth out the lumps in their relationship, and the dynamic duo was back together in no time. And, hey, let's be crazy – maybe one day, he and Babs might even go out together. As a couple.

Wally would have a field day.

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